Tuesday, 27 July 2004

Federal judge takes MBTA passenger searches "under advisement"

It's unclear from this account whether the discrepancies between MBTA claims about "random" searches at the entrances to MBTA "paid" areas, and the reality of searches of passengers already in paid areas or even on moving trains , was discussed at today's hearing. According to an AP report in today's Boston Globe and elsewhere, "MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the bags aren't opened. Instead, they are run through a machine that detects if explosives are inside. Pesaturo said so far no one has objected to having their bags inspected." Each of those claims by Pesaturo is contradicted by multiple eyewitness accounts, including those of the named plaintiffs in the Federal complaint.

Once briefing and argument is completed and a matter is "taken under advisement" by a Federal District Court judge, there is no specific requirement for when they will issue a ruling. It could be in minutes, hours, or months. In the present circumstances, however, I would expect some sort of ruling within 24 hours on the request for a preliminary injunction.

The hearing yesterday focused exclusively on the on-train or on-bus searches, and primarily on searches conducted at Community College and Haymarket T stations, which bracket the closed North Station stop.

There *was* some limited discussion of how this special Orange Line searching works as contrasted with searching on the rest of the system, but the issues of "random" vs. "roving" searches wasn't raised, and the focus of the plaintiff's point was on the "suspicionless" nature of the searches, not whether they were random, ordered, arbitrary, etc. There was no suggestion at the hearing, from either party, that the searches are being targetted at specific groups of people (i.e. racial profiling).

"Congress shall make no law ... abridging ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble." (U.S. Constitution)

"Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

"Liberty of movement is an indispensable condition for the free development of a person." (United Nations Human Rights Committee)